4 CCR 723-2-2136 - Obligations of Basic Emergency Service Providers

(a) A BESP certificated by the Commission shall interconnect with all OSPs and IASPs who have customers in areas served by the BESP. BESPs shall interconnect with all other BESPs for the purpose of transferring 9-1-1 calls to PSAPs served by the other BESPs.

(b) The BESP shall provide geographically diverse demarcation points for aggregating 9-1-1 calls and location information from OSPs and IASPs. At the request of an OSP or IASP, a BESP shall interconnect with the requestor for the purpose of aggregating and transporting 9-1-1 calls and location information from the requestor to the demarcation point with the governing body or PSAP. Interconnection shall be accomplished in a timely manner, generally not more than 30 days from the time the BESP receives a written order. Interconnection facilities shall generally be engineered as follows:

(I) dedicated facilities for connecting OSPs and IASPs to a BESP shall be based on the requirements established by the BESP to serve the customers within that local exchange; or

(II) if shared or common facility groups are used to transport calls from an OSP or IASP to a BESP, they shall be sized to carry the additional call volume requirements. Additionally, common or shared groups shall be arranged to provide 9-1-1 calls on a priority basis where economically and technically feasible.

(c) A BESP shall develop and file with the Commission tariffs that comply with the requirements set forth in rule 2137.

(d) A BESP shall render to each governing body or PSAP a single monthly bill for its tariffed services. The monthly bill shall be sufficiently detailed to allow the governing body or PSAP to determine that it is being billed properly based on the billing increments as approved by the Commission.

(e) BESPs shall ensure, to the extent possible and in the most efficient manner, that basic emergency service is available for transmitting 9-1-1 calls from deaf, hard of hearing, and persons with speech impairments to the appropriate PSAP.

(f) A BESP shall ensure that all BES facilities, and interconnections between it and the OSPs and IASPs are engineered, installed, maintained, and monitored in order to provide a minimum of two circuits and a minimum P.01 grade of service (one percent or less blocking during the busy hour), or such other minimum grade of service requirements approved by the Commission.

(g) Where a BESP obtains BES facilities from a basic local exchange carrier, the rates for such facilities shall be reflected in a tariff or agreement filed for approval with the Commission. Such tariffs or agreements shall ensure that such facilities are engineered, installed, maintained, and monitored to provide a minimum of two circuits and a grade of service that has one percent (P.01) or less blocking. The basic local exchange carrier providing such facilities shall not be considered a BESP. The provisions of this rule shall not apply to routing arrangements implemented pursuant to paragraph 2143(j)(II).

(h) To expedite the restoration of service following a PSAP service disruption, each BESP shall designate a telephone number for governing bodies, PSAPs, IASPs, and OSPs to report trouble. Such telephone number shall be staffed seven days a week, 24 hours a day, by personnel capable of processing calls to initiate immediate corrective action.

(i) A BESP shall keep on file with the Commission its contingency plan as described in paragraph 2143(e).

(j) BESPs shall identify service providers supplying service within a governing body or PSAP's service area, or statewide, to the extent that the BESP possesses such information, in response to a request from a governing body, PSAP, or the Commission.

(k) A BESP shall report to the Commission a list of every PSAP serviced by the BESP with the number of concurrent sessions provided to each PSAP. This report shall be updated and filed annually with the Commission by June 1 of each year.

(l) These requirements are in addition to those in paragraph 2335(d). If the BESP is aware of repairs or maintenance being conducted or to be conducted that have the potential to impact service to a primary demarcation point, the BESP shall notify the associated PSAP(s) of the potential of a PSAP service disruption at least 24 hours prior to work commencing, or as soon as possible. This notification shall be provided by voice call to the PSAP, if possible, and to the contact maintained for the PSAP as described in paragraph 2143(c). When scheduling routing maintenance or repairs, the BESP should schedule such repairs at a time likely to cause the least impact to the affected PSAP(s). Wherever practicable, maintenance of the BES network shall be performed with no scheduled downtime. The BESP shall employ best efforts to ensure that planned events for routine maintenance are scheduled and communicated to avoid impacts to each affected PSAP's 9-1-1 operations. Conduct of emergency or unscheduled repairs in order to restore service to a PSAP should not be delayed in order to make PSAP notification.

Notes

4 CCR 723-2-2136

39 CR 21, November 10, 2016, effective 12/1/2016 40 CR 15, August 10, 2017, effective 9/1/2017 41 CR 03, February 10, 2018, effective 3/2/2018 42 CR 02, January 25, 2019, effective 2/14/2019 42 CR 07, April 10, 2019, effective 4/30/2019 43 CR 02, January 25, 2020, effective 2/14/2020 43 CR 17, September 10, 2020, effective 8/17/2020 44 CR 17, September 10, 2021, effective 8/11/2021 44 CR 18, September 25, 2021, effective 10/15/2021 45 CR 03, February 10, 2022, effective 12/29/2021 45 CR 01, January 10, 2022, effective 1/30/2022 46 CR 05, March 10, 2023, effective 3/30/2023 47 CR 19, October 10, 2024, effective 10/30/2024